Date: Sat, 17 Feb 1996 23:58:26 -0500
From: Denny LEE / ACLU
AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION
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News from the ACLU National Headquarters
Alabama Judge Rebuffs State Attorney General and
Clears the Way for Gay Students' Conference
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, February 14, 1996
MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- A federal judge in Alabama today paved the way for
a student conference on lesbian and gay issues to take place beginning
Friday, putting an end to repeated efforts by state officials to cancel
or curtail the meeting.
The ruling comes two weeks after the judge, Myron H. Thompson, of
the United States District Court in Montgomery, Ala., struck down a
1992 state law barring gay student groups from university campuses,
calling the statute "naked viewpoint discrimination" in violation of
the First Amendment and wholly unenforceable.
Despite that strongly-worded ruling, state Attorney General Jeff
Sessions went back to court on Feb. 8th to try to use the statute to
block the Southeast Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual College Conference from
taking place at the University of Alabama.
In a 13-page order, Judge Thompson today denied that request,
saying that the attorney general "could not come up with a single
prospective application of the statute that would not
unconstitutionally infringe upon [the students'] right to exercise free
speech."
The American Civil Liberties Union, which brought the challenge to
the statute, hailed the decision. "It is astonishing that state
officials are so afraid of students getting together and talking," said
Ruth E. Harlow, Associate Director of the ACLU's Lesbian and Gay Rights
Project.
"This ruling will put an end to their misguided efforts to stop an
educational conference," continued Harlow, who had argued against
Session's request via telephone conference on Feb. 12th with Judge
Thompson and a lawyer from the attorney general's office.
The ACLU had also filed a motion to prevent Sessions from taking
future action against the conference, which Judge Thompson said was
unnecessary "at this time," given the attorney general's assurance that
"he will act in accordance with the court's judgment."
The Feb. 16-17 conference, sponsored by the Gay Lesbian Bisexual
Alliance of the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, is expected to
draw hundreds of students from throughout the region to discuss topics
ranging from gay Southern history and hate crimes, to AIDS research and
religion.
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Contact: Denny Lee, (212) 944-9800 ext. 424
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Media Relations Office 132 W 43rd Street, NYC 10036 (212) 944-9800 ext. 414